Daily Edition

British Film Commission Gets More Cash For Hollywood Charm Offensive

The organization pacts with the government's U.K. Trade & Investment body to add $630,000 to its budget.

LONDON – The British Film Commission, the government backed body tasked with attracting Hollywood studios to the U.K. to shoot, has secured a £400,000 ($630,000) boost to its budget after partnering with the government-backed organization U.K. Trade & Investment.

The U.K. film minister Ed Vaizey said the partnership will provide the extra cash over two years to "enable the commission to maximise its impact across the globe, driving further investment to the U.K."

It will also allow the BFC to maximise the benefits of the proposed TV tax credits "if it goes ahead in April 2013."

The proposed tax, trumpeted in March this year, aims to keep big budget TV series such as HBO’s Game of Thrones in the U.K. and attracting more international companies to shoot their must-see TV in Britain.

The tax credit for high-end TV shows that shoot in the U.K.would allow financiers to receive tax credits for budgets on high-end television productions although no fine details have been published as yet.

It is expected to mirror the tax credit systems in place for movie productions here.

British Film Commission and Film London chief executive Adrian Wootton said the pact with the U.K. Trade & Investment is a welcome fillip for both film and television.

"We have seen huge investment from the U.S. studios, which is in part thanks to the BFC having a dedicated team working directly with producers and decision makers in North America," said Wootton.

"We have the facilities and the talent in the U.K. to welcome additional film and high end TV production. Following our work with key national public and private industry partners laying the groundwork for the potential TV tax credit, we are delighted to be working with UKTI to exploit that, grow our commercial activity and forge new networks in the emerging markets.”

Trade and investment minister Lord Green said: "With the world's spotlight on the U.K. this summer we are working hard through the British Business Embassy programme to enable companies to capitalise on the unique opportunity we have in 2012 to secure new trade and investment."